Avis sponsors wheels to promising young equestrian

Avis sponsored Hyundai to Oscar Mncube, one of South Africa's up and coming show jumpers

With our “ownership” of the Avis Derby, a sport that generally has a “white elitist” attached to it in SA, we realized the need to expand our involvement to offer support to previously disadvantaged individuals and give people of colour an opportunity to grow in the sport of horse riding in SA.   In fact, as Thulani Nzima, Sales and Marketing Executive Avis Rent A Car, so rightly pointed out to us last year, unless we were able to do this, we would have to question our involvement and sponsorship of the annual Avis Derby, despite the great branding and networking opportunities it has to offer.  With the challenge put to Avis and Shelly Beckbessinger (of the Gauteng Horse Society), I am pleased to say that Shelly and her team have come to the fore with two great opportunities, which very positively enable us to be proud of our association and sponsorship of the Avis Derby:-

Oscar Ncube

Oscar is a young 25 year old black gentleman who has been training and riding with Barry Taylor, a top SA trainer, in search of his dream to ride in SA colours and represent SA at the Olympics in the future.  He comes from an underprivileged background, yet he certainly is not short of the skill and passion to reach his dream, but to do so, he requires financial assistance to lease (or one day own) his own, high caliber horse which is a necessity for any rider to excel in this sport.  We have agreed to sponsor Oscar by leasing (yes, you can lease a horse,) excellent performance horses - which Oscar and his trainer will identify as being suitable for his needs. 

Oscar Ncube was six years old whenhe got onto a horse for the first time.Since then, horse-riding has become his life and today he spends hismornings under the tutorship of top SA trainer, Barry Taylor, and his afternoons with Erica Pretorius of Summit Reach.Born in Alexandra, Ncube was barely one-year old when he moved to Botswana where his father was employed on a coal mine. “A few years later my father got a job on a coal mine in Wankee, Zimbabwe, and it was there that I first startedriding horses,”says Ncube.The ardent young rider returned to South Africa when he was 15 and began to network with like-minded people. In 2002, he travelled to George to work as a trick rider for two years.“In 2004 I moved to Cape Town to do show jumping with Deni Sanders. When Deni’s son decided to move to George, I followed and rode with him for a year before moving back to Johannesburg to ride with Rodger Hansen.Shortly thereafter, I met Erica Pretorius, who gave me access to horses and introduced me to Barry Taylor,” he says.

“Avis’ sponsorship has allowed me to take greater strides towards achieving my
dream of participating in higher divisionsand ultimately the Olympics,” says Ncube.

Avis Sustainability Manager, Jessica Branco,says Avis is happy to extend their sponsorship for Ncube with analternate means of transport this year, a Hyundai i10, to help him get to and from his training sessions and the various events he participates in. This sponsorship aims to reinforce the company’s powerful brand promise “People are more important than cars”.  Avis’ sponsorship of Ncube forms part of its Avis Cares philosophy which drives sustainability and
corporate social investment.